It may seem a bit incongruous for a science writer to be involved with something like Web design. On the contrary, I think Web publishing skills are becoming as essential for writers as pencils, pens, typewriters, and computers. The Web and Internet are important not only as tools for communication, research, marketing, and self-publishing, but they offer new freelance sidelines, ways to support a writing habit that may not be particularly lucrative at the moment.

I've been creating Web pages since January 1, 1995, but polished my skills through a Webmaster Certification program at Florida State University's Center for Professional Development. I was awarded my certification in October of 1998 for my work on Monkparakeet.com. (My name can be found at FSU's list of FSU Certified Webmasters)

Currently, I'm developing a business, devoted primarily to Web design, called WebDharma Communications – WebDharma.com. Only the home page is up, but I'll be working on it come January. (The webmaster's dilemma, doing too much work on other people's sites to build my own.)

Following are some sites that I have designed and built (these pages will open in a new browser window):

http://canopyrosecatering.com
Canopy Rose Catering, a gourmet catering service here in Tallahassee.

http://abeflorida.org
Adult Basic Education - Florida provides information for adult education teachers in the state of Florida.

http://twaonline.org/
The Tallahassee Writers' Association is one of the first sites I put together (1996) and just underwent an overhaul in January. I maintain it on a volunteer basis, updating the meeting information every month and publishing information about our contests and workshops. Simple as it is, it's been most effective at publicizing the group online. We've gotten members and conference attendees through the site who never would have found us otherwise.

http://tfn.net/~leon-mwc/
Florida Master Wildlife Conservationists, another site I maintain as a volunteer, is the latest site, just born on December 11th, and most of the pages are still under construction. It will grow substantially over the next six months.

http://tallahasseemuseum.org
The Tallahassee Museum of History and Natural Science has been a pro bono client since 1997. I did a redesign of the site in June of that year from a 1994 version done by a group of FSU students. This winter, I'll be overhauling the site and hope to have a new version up by this spring.

http://tfn.net/~tycenter/
Tallahassee Yoga Center

http://monkparakeet.com
Monk Parakeets in North America was the first site that I did in toto with the skills I gained in the FSU program. I've been using it as a research tool for my proposed book on the birds and hope to continue using it as a multimedia companion to the book after it's published. This site is slated for an overhaul this winter.

http://webdharma.com
WebDharma Communications -- my future virtual Web design business office -- is under construction but feel free to visit the home page. (Sorry, but that's all there is right now!)